Back in the day (circa 2008), you could pretty much build a career on backing the right horse, becoming a subject matter expert, or even staying under the radar. The slow and steady types could plug away and feel reasonably comfortable in the knowledge that their job, ergo career, was safe.
The problem is, “safe” was an illusion. It always has been. The illusion is now gone.
A great quote came my way the other day: as long as you are on somebody else’s paycheck, you’re on somebody else’s paycheck. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but as long as you’re on somebody else’s paycheck, somebody else, not you, will be calling the shots. I think we all need to think about that long and hard for a while. Think about it and fully unfold what that means to you.
Some people will be fine with that. They’ll spend their lives making sure that they do what they have to in order to stay on the payroll. There’s nothing wrong with that. It worked for my father for decades, and it has worked pretty well for me, too.
Some people will not be fine with the knowledge that somebody else gets to ultimately call the shots. They’ll spend their lives making sure that they do what they have to in order to make their own way in the world, that they get to call the shots. The payroll becomes theirs to control. There’s nothing wrong with that, either. It has worked for a lot of the people that I know.
What is important is that people think about what it means to be on somebody else’s payroll. Think about it, understand what it means to you, then choose your path accordingly. There are no “right” or “wrong” answers, at least not for me or anybody else to decide for you. All that matters are the decisions that you make and how well you inform yourself before you make them.
I think a great place to start is deciding what it means to be on somebody else’s payroll.
Illuminate Possibilities 